T: Dark fruits with some citrus followed by a medium high bitter, slightly lemony component. Mild rich breadiness melds. Quite acrid in the finish, drying slightly with some spiciness. An off compound i can't nail down, almost bleach like.

M: Hot, alcoholic, medium bodied, medium carbonation.

A really terrible beer, aroma was good. But there is a an acrid, bitter component that is very unappealing. Couldn't finish this one and ended up drain pouring it. (587 characters)

I poured this terrible brew into my tumbler at 50 degrees. The beer was a decently nice mahogany color that looked pretty good. But then the smell hit me and that was like soured beer smells the day after it has been in the trash can. The taste was equally sour with a sweetness I just could not stomach. Alcohol taste was way overpowering and too much also. Not buy again. (373 characters)

Pours a transparent deep plum color into my Piraat balloon glass. Zero head despite the high-altitude pour directly down the center. Aroma is very clean and lacks any Belgian yeast character whatsoever. Dark toasty malt; very biscuity with just a little fruit. Smells quite similar to a doppelbock.

This is a Belgian style? A thin malty sweetness that turns tart and quickly fades away. Alcohol is very forward and feels like more than 9%. Not a hint of Belgian-style phenols anywhere on the palate either. Mouthfeel is thin and boring with medium-high carbonation.

Holy Sheet is a very disappointing offering from Clipper City, a solid brewery that I feel has some excellent beers in the form of Loose Cannon and The Great Pumpkin. I finished the bottle, but I won't be having this again. (791 characters)

This beer is basically missing all the yeasty goodness. No clove, date, banana, anything like that. Smells like a cherry cough syrup and doesn't taste much better. There's a cheap, alcoholic aftertaste with a hint of chalk, the main flavor best described as medicinal. Call it extreme beer gone bad. Avoid. (306 characters)

Attractive enough on the pour, with a clear, dark cherrywood color and a small amount of quickly-fleeting head. The smell is in-your-face strong and sweet but nonetheless nuanced a bit by dark fruit, brown sugar, and alcohol. In the taste, though, the strong vs. nuanced battle is tipped decidedly toward the strong. Very sweet and alcoholic in the way that cough syrup is. I think there was some spice trying to work its way in, but I couldn't drink more than a couple swallows of this. I like hefty Belgian ales, but this one doesn't work for me. Mouthfeel is full and chewy, but I don't want this taste to linger. Rare is the time I pour any beer down the drain, but I quickly fled this one in favor of a better example of the style. (736 characters)

Appearance: Pours a hazy caramel color with a buoyant head that one would expect from a Belgian style; leaves plenty of lace

Smell: Spice cake and cherry cough syrup

Taste: Starts out with a medicinal, almost cherry cough syrup flavor that is fortunately not overly sweet; after the swallow, some mellowing prune flavors arrive to cut into the first impression but the overall effect is very strange

Mouthfeel: Medium body with heavy carbonation; plenty of warmth on the finish

Drinkability: Why they released this beer I will never know as it is a poor facsimile of a BSDA and a mediocre home brewer could have done better; just a mess from a brewer that makes some great beers (682 characters)

A: Pours an amber color, when I opened it I could immediately smell it, very little head which dissipated very quickly

S: Fruity, with a berry like taste, very sweet smelling

T: Well, this is my first abbey ale. I haven't found too many beers I don't like. But this is one that I can't stand. Anyway, tastes of cherries, rasperry, maybe lingonberry- cough syrup. It seriously made me feel sick. I think I'll stop here. This is the first beer I've had that I had to pour out. Could have been my tastes at the time, but I really didn't feel good after it. (559 characters)

A - This beer pours a somewhat translucent cola-brown hue; it is capped with a thin tan head that exists briefly and then recedes to a collar.

S - The nose is a mix of spicy notes from yeast, nutty impressions and dark fruitiness, especially dates.

T - There is a strong metallic taste in this beer that I do not like whatsoever. The off-flavor is disconcerting to the point that while I can detect some of the same nice elements I found in the nose, I cannot suffer this offense for more than a few mouthfuls.

This is a pretty beer in terms of the color of the liquid but there is no head to speak of off my semi-gentle pour.

Is there something fruity in my nostrils? Either I inhaled a sweet tart or this beer has some candy sugar in it. This beer is a bit more alcoholy than I would have liked. Perhaps a year away from light on the lower level of a ship would do this beer good. Of course, if they were "heavy seas" they would shake this sh** out of this beer until it was worthless anyway. I taste fruit, something dark and sweet but not quite as dark as a plum or anything.

I would drink this again but probably only if it was given or was really cheap at the store. Still, not bad all the same. Maybe next year they will tweak it a bit. There is nothing in there to make me cry Holy Sheet! (791 characters)

Well that was a disappointing first experience... after listening to a podcast w/ the head brewer here on TBN I was excited to see that Clipper City beers were available on my trip to Boston, so I picked some up.

First of all, this is a dubbel, not a belgian strong dark (hopefully this is corrected as you're reading this, and you're just wondering why I'm even pointing this out).

Now, it pours a nice rich ruby/mahogany that's clear, and has decent, but nothing special, head.

Smell is hugely sweet with tons of caramel malt, and some hot, fusel alcohols. Belgian fruitiness and floral notes are present but barely there. It reminds me almost of the aroma of Avery's Kaiser, which was an out of control caramel malt bomb.

Taste is the same, but not quite as oppressively rich and sweet as expected. Despite a big mid-palate burst of juicy, rich, mouth-filling sweetness, it finishes dry enough. Some banana and raisin and bready malt come through, it tastes just like dubbel that is out of control with malt and alcohol. As it warms, the alcohol is noticeable. This wouldn't be bad in a big beer like this... if it weren't trying to be a Belgian. Belgian beers shouldn't have such noticeable, and distinct, alcohol. Drink too many of these and it'd be headache city.

Mouthfeel is too rich and heavy, and it's under-carbonated.

Seems like a Belgian Dubbel influenced too much by someone who loves English Barleywines.

A bit of a mess, and not recommended, but not awful. (1,479 characters)

Pours a deep caramel with little head. Smells sweet, particularly for an ale. I was not impressed with this one but probably mostly because it felt and tasted more like a barleywine than anything else. Even the aftertaste was a bit off for an ale.

I'll be curious to try this one again after sampling more abbey ales but for now, I'll be leaving it alone. (417 characters)

Nice red color, clear body with a thin, loud, fast and fizzy head that dissipated completely. No lacing whatsoever.

Aroma was of raisins, sweet malt, caramel, and hints of chocolate. Alcohol was definitely noticeable, it was almost boozy.

Taste was of very strong malt, with slight roasted hints. It was sweet, with rum notes evident. Alcohol was not well hidden - it did taste like booze. I didn't get any peanut taste that others have mentioned.

Mouthfeel is kind of average, not much body for something with this much flavor. A trifle thin.

Drinkability gets lower marks. I was hard pressed to finish this before it got too warm. It was like downing shots of whiskey mixed with Sam Adams Boston Lager. (708 characters)

pours beautiful red/auburn with broad bubbles of a one-finger head that dissipates almost instantly.

aroma is a touch rancid, lots of fruit but the rotten kind. also noting a heft of caramelized sugar and some brandy in the alcohol mix.

it'g got a lot of sugar on the palate, and fluffy carbonation, a wash of alcohol and a lingering odd fruitiness. not the normal belgian kind. perhaps it's a touch of brett.. but i like brett and i'm not into this beer.

mouthfeel is a bit sweet, but remains light. the hops are in decent proportion, but the alcohol finishes a bit hot. then there's a lingering acrid something or other.. like the hops were oxidized. texturally, it's balanced i guess.

overall this does not work for me. reminds me of rotten caramel apples. something off-putting in the odor and the alcohol may be high for the style. also the sweetness and then the acrid finish... (890 characters)

12oz bottle, notched JUL 08Pours a very clear caramel color with a thin head of tan bubbles. Aroma of brown sugar with a bit of plumb. Taste is mixed overripe fruit, plumb and apricot, with a somewhat harsh character. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the harshness is similar to other beers (and homebrews) that use a bit too much refined sugar and ferment a bit too hot. Hot alcohol lingers long into the aftertaste. Hot and unpleasant the longer I sip it. Very drying.Sorry Hugh. (487 characters)

Bottle. Pours brown with a small ring of white head. Aroma of sweet Belgian yeast, roasted nuts and malt, and a touch of booze. Flavor is quite sweet with some alcohol and dark fruits as well as roasted malt. Palate is a bit harsh, grainy, and boozy. Overall much too sweet for me. (281 characters)

Poured a solid burgundy color with good carbonation and a big dirty white head. HeNose is malts, grain, some fruits. Taste was a little effervescent with fruits like raspberries, figs, prunes, raisins and caramel. Lots of spice and alcohol. Mouthfeel is hot and unpleasant as this beer is off balanced. (302 characters)

A - A deep dark brown body that has nice notes of deep red amber when in the light. A large white head that mellows to a half finger head with some stick.S - The Aroma is nice as it renders good carmalized sugars and malt, mixed with good yeast and a plethora of deep dark fruits. A complex yet nicely balanced nose.T & M - What happened to the nose is my first thought. The beer just doesnt have any pop. There is fruit there but light, sugars there but light - The tastes are all blah. The good thing is the ABV is well hidden.

O - Let me start by saying I love heavy seas and love the Mutiny fleet so I was excited about this beer. Then I was unimpressed and underwhelmed by this brew. I was sad but I will not be turned away from the great mutiny fleet!

Pours a rich mahogany color with no head and no visible carbonation. The body is crystal clear. The aroma is sweet and malty with a bit of spice in the background. The flavor is overwhelmingly malty with a bunch of spice. The sweetness is pretty strong initially but fades quickly. It is nice and smooth with good body, but that's really the only good part. Not a beer I'd drink again. (385 characters)

A big ale. Pours solid amber/reddish brown. Head was short lived. A strong malty-sweet aroma dominated this beer. Big malty/sweetish front end, which is smooth and dries a bit towards the finish. A slight medicidnal sweet aftertaste detracts a bit from taste points. Alcohol comes through a bit in the finish as well. While the malt dominates, I thought this beer was a little too bland; it was missing the kind of esthers one expects in a Belgian Ale.

Not a bad Abbey -good after dinner beer.Could use a bit more character. (527 characters)

Very little head, if any, same for the lacing. Red, brown mahogany in color, dark yet equally clear and clean, shade more orange at the rims. The nose comes up with milk chocolate, date and raisin fruit, the alcohol is noticeable, malts not able to smooth out the general volatility, light aspect of candied orange peels, has adequate density but lacks expressivity. Full-bodied, the carbonation does not add much texture nor get the flavors percolating. Hence, it's a bit sticky and more or less sits there as it produces rum raisin cake, date, fig and green apple fruit in addition to mild clove, cinnamon spice. The orange, lemon citrus mutters, touch more clarity to the biscuit and scone elements. Lack of concentration leads to an emptying out feel through the finish. If there's any flaws, would be the noticeability of the alcohol. Otherwise, just a beer that's consumable but misses the general mark. (909 characters)